PARIS - For the first time in more than 15 years, the European Space Agency is recruiting new astronauts to expand its staff for missions to the International Space Station.
Wanted: Young men and women with medical or scientific degrees - and fluent in Russian and English - to fly in space. If you are […]

BEIRUT - Lebanon’s political rivals are expected to respond to a proposal from Qatar’s prime minister to end months of political fighting.
Representatives from Lebanon’s Hezbollah-backed opposition and pro-Western government are to discuss the plan Monday in Doha, Qatar.
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani has been hosting the talks since Friday to try to […]

JERUSALEM - Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak is set to meet Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to discuss a proposed truce between the Jewish state and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.
Barak is expected to meet Mr. Mubarak and Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman Monday in the Egyptian town of Sharm el-Sheikh.
A Hamas delegation headed by former […]

BANGKOK - Burma has agreed to allow foreign medical teams into regions hit by Cyclone Nargis. The agreement, reached during a meeting of the Association of South East Asian Nations, comes ahead of a visit to Burma this week by the United Nations secretary-general.
After weeks of resisting requests to send in relief workers, Burma’s military […]

BEIJING - China came to a standstill for three minutes Monday as the public mourned the tens of thousands of victims of last Monday’s powerful earthquake.
Across the country, air raid sirens and car, train and ship horns blared at 2:28 p.m. (0628 UTC) to mark the exact time the 7.9 earthquake struck Sichuan province seven […]

By Jeremy Reynalds
Correspondent for ASSIST News Service
BAGHDAD (ANS) – A leader of al Qaeda in Iraq has been sentenced to death for the killing of Chaldean Catholic Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho, whose murder in March drew worldwide condemnation, the Iraqi government said Sunday.
According to a story by Ross Colvin and published by the Reuters […]

SHASHEMENE, ETHIOPIA - Humanitarian agencies are rushing emergency aid to drought-stricken central Ethiopia, where a sudden deterioration in food supplies has led to surge of child mortality. At least 23 children have died at hospitals and emergency feeding centers during the past three weeks, and authorities say countless others have died at home for lack […]

CAIRO - Kuwaitis went to the polls Saturday to vote for a new representative Parliament. It was the second time in Kuwait’s history that women were allowed to run as candidates, but just as last time no women won enough votes to secure a parliament seat. In contrast Islamists made headway, winning half the seats […]

SHARM EL SHEIKH, EGYPT -  The Bush administration says Israeli and Palestinian negotiators are making significant progress toward an independent Palestinian state. Officials say U.S. President George Bush may return to the Middle East if it will help the process.
U.S. National Security Adviser Steve Hadley says President Bush is encouraged by progress in Israeli-Palestinian talks.
“What […]

BEIJING - China’s state media says the confirmed death toll from the massive earthquake in Sichuan province has risen to more than 32,000.
The official Xinhua news agency said Sunday that the toll has climbed to 32,477, with more than 220,000 innured. Authorities expect the death toll to climb past 50,000.
About 5 million people have lost […]

IRBIL - Iraq’s prime minister returned to the nation’s capital Saturday after spending several days in Mosul overseeing a military operation against militants currently under way there. 
Before he departed Mosul, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki opened a new military operation command post in the northern city. He said this new facility, complete with high-tech equipment, would […]

WASHINGTON - U.S. President George Bush says he remains committed to helping Israeli and Palestinian leaders reach a peace accord by the end of the year.
Speaking to reporters during his visit to Egypt Saturday, Mr. Bush said he is determined to help achieve what he called “the dream” of establishing an independent Palestinian state. He […]

BOSTON - A statement from Democratic Senator Edward “Ted” Kennedy’s office says the lawmaker has been rushed to a hospital in Massachusetts after suffering a seizure.
The 76-year-old senator was taken Saturday from the Kennedy family’s estate to Boston.
Kennedy’s office says he is undergoing a series of tests to determine the cause of the seizure, and […]

JERUSALEM - A senior Israeli official has warned of a growing military threat from the Gaza Strip, which is ruled by the Islamic militant group Hamas.
Public Security Minister Avi Dichter says half-a-million Israelis could soon be within the range of Palestinian rockets fired from Gaza, up from 200,000 today. Dichter told Israel Radio that Hamas […]

Mesa Power Places World’s Largest Single-Site Wind Turbine Purchase Order
DALLAS — Mesa Power LLP, a company created by legendary energy executive T. Boone Pickens, has placed an order with General Electric to purchase 667 wind turbines capable of generating 1,000 megawatts of electricity, enough to power more than 300,000 average U.S. homes.
The agreement represents the […]

IRBIL - An Iraqi military commander in Mosul says security forces have detained more than 1,000 suspected militants in the past few days, as troops work to clear one of the last strongholds of al Qaida in Iraq.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is in Mosul where he is overseeing a major military campaign to rout out […]

WASHINGTON - Rival factions in Lebanon have agreed to re-launch a national dialog after fierce fighting between Hezbollah militants and pro-government militias killed at least 65 people and wounded at least 200 in the worst violence since the nation’s civil war. The talks are aimed at electing a new president and forming a unity government. 
Until […]

STATE DEPARTMENT - The United States has announced the resumption of food aid to North Korea after the two sides agreed on new measures to insure that the American-provided assistance reaches those in need. U.S. officials say the pending food aid is unrelated to negotiations on ending Pyongyang’s nuclear program.
With North Korea again facing the […]

RIYADH - Saudi Arabia is refusing a U.S. request to increase overall oil production as a way to lower record high energy costs.
It is the second time in four months that President Bush has come to Saudi Arabia asking King Abdullah to boost overall oil production to help drive down U.S. gasoline prices.
And it is […]

RIYADH - U.S. President George Bush is in Saudi Arabia for talks with King Abdullah marking the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Washington and Riyadh. The two leaders are expected to reach agreement on civilian nuclear technology.
President Bush and King Abdullah inspected a military honor guard in Riyadh before private talks at the king’s […]

JERUSALEM - U.S. President George Bush will warn that letting Iran obtain nuclear weapons would be - in his words - an “unforgivable betrayal of future generations.”
In remarks prepared for delivery Thursday to Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, Mr. Bush says for the sake of peace, the world must not allow Iran to have a nuclear […]

BEIRUT - Lebanon’s government has reversed two anti-Hezbollah decisions that set off a week of sectarian clashes that left roughly 60 people dead and more than 200 wounded.
Celebratory gunfire erupted from opposition strongholds in Beirut almost immediately after the announcement that the government was revoking the two decisions that led to the worst sectarian fighting […]

WASHINGTON - Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama won the endorsement of a key former rival Wednesday, one day after being trounced in the West Virginia primary by Hillary Clinton.
Obama won the endorsement of former senator and Democratic presidential rival John Edwards.
Edwards made a surprise appearance with Obama at a campaign rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
“There’s […]

MIAMI - As crop prices remain high, farmers and other landowners are working to expand their output and take advantage of big profits for wheat, corn and soybeans. The boom is creating pressure to begin farming on lands enrolled in U.S. environmental programs intended to rebuild native prairie and wildlife habitats.
Rising crop prices are creating […]

JERUSALEM - U.S. President George Bush says Iran is trying to bring down the democratically-elected government in Lebanon. Mr. Bush discussed the ongoing conflict with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert during talks in Jerusalem.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says he and President Bush discussed Tehran’s role in Lebanese fighting. He says Iran is heavily involved […]